The Party
by Aidrienne Levine
Summary: Sarah throws a sweet sixteen party turned bad! Then guess who shows up!
1. Default Chapter

Sarah sighed and starred out at the party guests. Over 200 of her closet   
friends had shown up for her sweet sixteen party. Had her parents been   
there, and seen the amount of people in their usually clean house, they   
would've crucified Sarah! Lucky for her, though, they were out of town, yet   
again, at the casino.   
The loud music throbbed through her temples, enticing her to rejoin   
the wildly dancing masses. No She resolved I have to feed Toby first.  
So Sarah climbed up the stairs, side-stepping around a drunk couple making-  
out in the middle of them.  
"Wait" Sarah said, suprising the wide-eyed couple. "Um… You two   
weren't...um…drinking?"  
The guy stared blankly at her, and then slowly and stupidly pointed to   
the coffee table. There, Sarah saw the vase beloved to her mother, and her   
own favorite relic of her mother's presence. It was full of some strange   
liquid, and there was a ladle in it.  
"Oh mi god!" Sarah shouted, barely heard above the loud beat of the   
music. How could her friends have done this to her? She had distinctly said   
no illegal substances. Didn't her friends know that?  
No, not friends, acquaintances. People who use you. The voice in   
th3e back of her mind reminded her. Most of these people I've never even   
met.  
The most appalling so far was her friend Zoë, who stood next to the   
vase alternating between adding vodka and some fruit juice to the   
concoction.  
"WHAT are you DOING!?" Sarah yelled to Zoë. Zoë either ignored   
her, or just couldn't hear her. Zoë grabbed another bottle out of the hands of   
some kid, passed out on Sarah's couch. She took a swig out of it before   
continuing to add it in. "ZOE!!" Sarah tried again, horrified at the notion of   
what was going on. She had lost all control over this party.  
"Oh hi, Sarah!" Zoë cried over the loud noise.  
"What?!" Sarah was infuriated, "I said nothing illegal!"  
"It's no big deal…" Zoë muttered, brushing it off, before fading into   
the crowd. Sarah's face was burning. She was almost shaking in frustration.   
She hit the kid sitting next to her on the couch.  
"Wha…What?" He murmured in drunken confusion.  
" Get. Out. Of. My. HOUSE!!!" Sarah cried, over the roar of the party   
as someone began dancing on the kitchen table.   
"Whoa, what's your problemmm? The boy slurred before the alcohol   
overtook him again, and he passed out once more.   
By now, Sarah was out for blood. She had been an anti-drug   
musketeer ever since the whole episode with the peach, vowing herself to   
never touch anything like it again. She was even hesitant to take Advil. She   
had hardly even thought about the peach episode, or the Labyrinth at all,   
even though it had happened less than a year ago. But she hadn't been able   
to completely forget it. She felt as if she had left a part of herself there.   
When she had said those words, those words that changed her life, they also   
changed her. The child inside of her had died, but she had sacrificed the   
child in herself for another child, Toby. She had become a more normal,   
down-to-earth person after that, rising to a level of popularity unknown to   
the former her.  
Now her true self could show through, no longer a naïve girl, but a   
mature young woman. She liked her friends well enough, but they were   
nothing compared to her friends from the Underground. She couldn't even   
call them now, when she wanted to. But now her friends had deceived her,   
and she was just about fed up their weekly drinking and drug binges.   
Enough, this has to end!   
So she stomped up the stairs, kicking people out of her way like so   
many goblins.  
"The babe with the power" A blond-haired stranger said, off to her   
left. She turned to look at him, but she couldn't find anyone, so she ignored   
it, continue on her romp to the second floor landing.  
"LISTEN UP!!!" She screamed, her anger powering her voice like a   
megaphone. All conversation stopped, and someone lowered the volume of   
the pulsing music. "YOU ALL HAVE TWO MINUTES BEFORE THE   
POLICE COME. I'VE ALREADY CALLED THEM!" That, of course, was   
a lie, but it added a powerful punch to her words.  
You would've thought the house was on fire. The local cops were   
well known for their lack of hesitance to arrest even the youngest offender.   
People were leaving her house in streams, dragging their unconscious with   
them. It looked more like a battle than a bad end to a party.  
Sarah held her ground, dirty looking the partygoers, shouting at those   
going to slow for her tastes.  
"You know, Sarah, it really wasn't that big a deal." Zoë said, tartly.  
Sarah's blood was boiling. Zoë could tell, and quickly scooted out the   
door, saving herself from the wrath of Sarah's ire. When they were gone,   
though, Sarah collapsed into exhausted crying.  
The house was a disaster. Cups were strewn everywhere, and the   
chips were in terrible disarray. Spills were everywhere, and the whole house   
reeked of alcohol. She didn't even want to look in the kitchen, for fear of   
what she might find there.  
And in the living room, the vase had been smashed! Sarah couldn't   
believe what terrible luck. The very thought of it breaking had added the   
pain of her Mother's absence. How could they, what nerve? The delicate   
flowers were strewn through the room, thousands and thousands of tiny   
delicate pieces. Sarah's heart wrenched, felt as though it had been ripped out   
tonight.  
" Oh, Gods, why does everything always have to happen to the   
innocent?! How could this party go so bad so quickly?" Sarah ranted, to no   
one. "This is SO NOT…"  
"Fair." Came the amused voice behind her. Slowly Sarah turned, in   
fear and anticipation. It couldn't be him.  
" Why, hello Sarah. Who crashed this lovely party?" He asked, with   
false interest. His ever-present grin lighted his face. He looked ever   
sarcastically mocking, which totally pushed Sarah over the edge.  
"Oh, Not you." Sarah screamed "Of all the damned ways to end this   
bad day…"  
"Shh!" Jareth hushed, "You'll wake Toby."  
Sarah's eyes widened, realizing the extreme quiet of the household.   
By now Toby should be screaming.  
" If you had touched a single hair on his head, I…I swear I'll…"  
" I only fed him, something you so rudely forgot. He nearly deafened   
me with his screaming. From what I saw of your party, he definitely has   
your lungs."  
Sarah looked at him defiantly. " Yeah, well it's not like they didn't   
deserve it." Sarah's voice trailed off as she realized what he had said. "You   
fed Toby? Likely poison.  
Jareth pursed his lips as he paced around, surveying the damage of the   
house. "Not poison, if you must know, but formula." He answered coldly.   
Sarah stood staring dumbly at Jareth, the night's exhaustion tearing   
words from her grasp. She searched for a witty remark.  
The Goblin King looked on amusedly while Sarah searched for the   
right words. His gold shirt was shimmering, drawing Sarah's attention to the   
way the fabric flashed in the party lights. Sarah starred blankly at the   
twisting swirling shit, surly a work of magic, a spell from the Underground.   
" Is the view impressive?" He asked finally, bending down to meet   
her eyes. Sarah blushed and averted her eyes. Jareth chuckled at this rare   
show of modesty.  
" I've been told it's quite irresistible." He chuckled, stalking ever   
closer to Sarah.  
Sarah quickly regained her composture," What have you come for   
Jareth?" She asked, her voice a mirror of his own coldness.  
"Why to join in the partying, why else?" He smiled sarcastically, his   
pointed teeth gleaming to rival that of his shirt.  
"Oh, yes, you've just missed the tea and vodka!" Sarah shouted in her   
equally sarcastic quasi-British accent. Now it was anger fueling her words.  
  
"On a more serious note then, if you've no taste for humor, I've come   
as a messenger." Sarah snorted in disgust at the unlikely ness of this  
proposition. "I know, it was a task I had all but refused. Sarah, seeing as   
you're sixteen, you've acquired certain powers." He said solemnly, the   
lilting humor gone from his voice.  
"Powers!?" Sarah cried again, in disbelief. She sank back into one   
mercifully dry armchair. Her face in her hands, Sarah parted her fingers to   
look at Jareth, who had draped himself on a reasonably dry arm rest. He   
must have expected this reaction, because he settled back comfortably to   
wait.  
" I have the most frustrating day of my life…well second-most   
frustrating, and now, you MOCK ME!" Sarah screeched in absolute rage.   
Jareth had to duck as a especially sharp piece of the vase flung past his head.  
" Sarah, shhh! Sarah, you know that surely I would not come simply   
to do that. You have to know that. Since you have conquered my Labyrinth,   
you know have the golden key, in a way. You have the power to visit at   
anytime." He spoke sharply of his defeat, but the overall tone was somewhat   
of relief at finishing his errand.  
" Oh, yes, a lovely week long tour through the dirty convoluted   
mazes, and with an extra stop in an oubliette!" Sarah said, her sarcasm   
leeching through to even Jareth's heart.   
" Enough!" Jareth shouted, his anger also getting the best of him. "I   
came to deliver the message, but I can see you are unwilling to listen!" He   
strode purposely towards her, hovering over her chair. He reached forward,   
cupping Sarah's chin with his hand, raising her face towards his own.  
"You are but a child still, Sarah. Selfishly unable to see anything but   
yourself." He said, voice as dark as his own castle at night. "I came to do   
you a favor. I can see it goes unappreciated. I'll take my leave, Sarah. You   
can never understand what you have lost." And with that, Jareth, and the   
party mess disappeared in a tremendous crash. Sarah watched transfixed,   
before reluctantly turning to sooth the now screaming Toby.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. The visit

  
Hey! Thanks for all the great reviews; they really   
galvanized me to write again. Ha! You have not seen the   
last of me! Need I say I do not own the Labyrinth? Then I   
shall, for I don't. I know it's not the prettiest thing, but I   
can't figure out how to make my story look normal, so   
you'll all have to deal! Hope you like it…  
  
" I have lost? Lost what? Myself? Himself?!" Sarah   
muttered as she paced back and forth in her room. Jareth's   
words still echoed in her head, though the party was over.   
He had said she had lost? Lost what? The question's   
repeated in her mind, over and over, never coming to an   
end. Surely she had beaten the labyrinth, what has she lost   
at?  
Surely not herself, right? After the Labyrinth her   
popularity had skyrocketed, leaving her happier than ever?   
How could she have lost?  
Jareth watched her fretful pacing, and smiled to   
himself at the predicament He had put her in. She would   
never be happy not knowing, she was far too stubborn for   
that. She would need him to fill in the answers, to help her   
complete the puzzle he had left her with. She would have to   
know about her power, meager as it was compared to his.   
He lounged gracefully across the dark stone throne, and   
though seemingly informal, in any shape, the King of   
goblins wore power like a cloak. But was he ready to   
encounter Sarah's anger again? Perhaps, Perhaps he was.  
Sarah was going over traits she had before the   
Labyrinth and after words, sifting through the time of sand   
to find a clue, a hint, anything. Reaching the end of her   
pacing space, Sarah turned, and walked straight into the   
Goblin King. She stood there, frozen for a moment by the   
feeling of power that came being so close to him, but   
quickly snapped out of it. He stared at her expectantly.  
"So?" He said finally, after a few tense moments of   
glaring at her.  
" So what?" Sarah murmured, almost too quiet to hear.  
" Not like you to be shy, stick with your strengths,   
Sarah." He observed. Realizing the silence was filling the   
void between them again, he sighed, "You wish to know of   
your powers."  
This was an obvious statement, not like the mocking   
questions Sarah had grown so accustom to. His assuredness   
unnerved her. "Yes, but what have I…"  
"Good then," Jareth interrupted, seemingly oblivious   
to the latter half of her comment. "You have, since your   
sixteenth birthday, gained the power to alter time and space   
on your own, and enter the Labyrinth. Once within, you'll   
have unlimited access to every nook and cranny there." He   
paused, watching her expressions closely. "To venture to   
the Underground, all you need to do is think of any part of   
your memories there."  
"Then I have to kiss you, and you'll turn into a frog."   
Sarah laughed sarcastically, not that she was, totally against   
the idea.  
Jareth continued, ignoring her unlikely remark, "Then   
you look into this." He produced another flawless crystal   
from his endless batch of supplies. "And say, I wish I was   
in the Labyrinth."  
Sarah's eyes shot daggers. "Not funny, O kingly one.   
If you have nothing to say, other than this practical joke,"   
She spit out the word." Then I again must insist that you,   
perhaps, should leave."  
Jareth shrugged and bowed, looking at her the whole   
time, "Then you shall always be the one to lose." And with   
that, he disappeared with a flutter of feathers.  
"Hey! Wait, what about my question." But it was too   
late. Sarah knew he was gone.  
She sank to the floor, again feeling the tears in her   
eyes. "Now I'll never solve his damn riddle!" She felt the   
stress boiling up again. It was all she could do to not   
scream, and flip out on her family. It wasn't their fault,   
though. If only she had another way to talk to Jareth. She   
wasn't about to give him the pleasure of seeing her stoop to   
performing the mindless nonsense, 'her powers'.  
The days dripped by, leaving Sarah a senseless,   
unperceiving zombie. Answering the riddle took up most of   
her free time. Her friends, even those who remembered the   
party and steered clear of her wrath inquired about her   
health. Karen, usually cheerfully ignoring Sarah asked if   
she wanted to see a doctor. Sarah knew she either had to   
find an answer to the riddle, or live forever like an obsessed   
hobbit.   
Finally, after tortuous hours of pondering, Sarah   
decided she might as well try Jareth's 'powers' then.   
Nothing to lose but her pride in trying, but her sanity if she   
didn't. All she needed was a crystal. Jareth hadn't left his,   
but she did have a store bought one her father had given her   
for Yule. She went to her vanity to search for it, but instead   
she saw the King's gift. It was perfect, as usual, and resting   
in a jewel-encrusted holder. It even came with an elaborate   
tag on which was written in calligrapher's letters "To:   
Sarah, Form: Your beloved Goblin King." Beloved? What   
had he meant by that? The jewels, too, Jareth was surely   
rolling out the red carpet for her.  
She decided he was simply fueling her anger, so she   
began the spell. She held up the crystal, as Hamlet had the   
skull, gazing into her vanity mirror. "O Jareth, we knew   
him well…" her acting classes getting the best of her. She   
went on more seriously; "I wish I could be in the Labyrinth,   
Right Now!" She added just for good measure. The world   
danced, her room twirling around and around. Then   
everything went black.  
  
Knowing Jareth, Sarah was not surprised to wake up   
in the Crystal Ballroom. The dancers masqueraded again,   
ever more beautiful than the last, yet unattractive all the   
same. Only this time they didn't sneer at her and stare, they   
simply ignored her altogether. She found herself dressed   
not in her pristine dress from the months before, but in her   
street cloths she had on Aboveground.  
She looked around her, trying to find that familiar   
glimpse of he who had so confused her. She also tangled   
through the dancers, searching for the way out. Suddenly,   
she was confronted with a sight that took her breath away.   
It was not the king that haunted her, but it was herself, as   
she had stood less than a year ago. She thought about   
interfering, telling Younger Sarah the way to escape, but   
was afraid to shout out in this faceless crowd. Young Sarah   
passed through the grotesque masqueraders, fear ever   
present on her face.  
Sarah could sense her past fears stirring up at this   
unheard reunion. Why had Jareth brought her here again, to   
this painful and frightening place? Why was she here?!   
"To relive it, Sarah. The one thing you never have,   
never wondered about. The answer lies here." A voice said,   
shudderingly close to her ear. Her skin tingled at Jareth's   
breath on her face. She whipped around to face him, as   
much unnerved as unhappy. But her anger melted away   
when she saw the unmasked look on his face. The anger,   
and mocking sarcasm was gone, and the Goblin King, of all   
things looked sad. Lonely even.  
"Jareth…" Sarah began, cursing herself for feeling   
pity for he who had caused her so much pain. She couldn't   
allow herself to feel sorry for him. She brought the strength   
back into her voice, "Jareth, Why have you brought me   
here?"  
"You said you wanted to know what you have lost.   
How you had lost. Watch now, then." He said simply,   
gesturing to the younger pair of themselves, now dancing   
warmly in each other's arms. Sarah was caught up in a rush   
of withheld memories.  
Oh, she had wanted to remember, but she couldn't.   
She couldn't show weakness to Jareth, who had so closely   
defeated her. Now Sarah found the strength to watch, she   
couldn't have looked away. So she watched the younger   
Sarah, who stood transfixed by the gaze of the past Goblin   
King. Strains of the familiar tune drifted to her ears,   
reinforcing this mix of memory and reality.  
The feelings came back to her last. She remembered   
the fear, and confusion, and a warm feeling of longing   
warming her towards him. Longing? No, she must be   
mistaken; it must've been the spell of the peach. She knew,   
though, it was true. The king, so powerful and dark, was   
this what she had lost?   
Jareth watched her in fascination. He knew she   
had been hiding something, perhaps even from herself. This   
had been his riddle to solve. Now was the time to make the   
final move to solving his half.   
Sarah was startled at the hand on her shoulder.   
The glove felt warm through her, as if warming her soul   
itself. She turned towards Jareth, turning away from the   
other couple. She was again startled as Jareth pulled her   
close to him, and they began dancing. A cry of protest   
escaped her lips, but was ignored as Jareth tightened his   
grasp on her was, drawing her closer to his warm body.  
They swayed, vaguely in time to the music, staring   
again into each other's eyes. They world was lost to the, as   
they both sought out answers. If they could not find them   
there, tonight, they knew the answers would never come.  
"What have I lsot, Jareth," Asked Sarah, dreamily   
remember her purpose for being there. The song was   
drawing to a close.  
Jareth closed his eyes and sighed, wanted to remain   
forever with unspoken words. "Sarah, what did you want   
before Labyrinth, your dreams, you hopes for the rest of   
life."  
Sarah's brow furrowed as she pondered this, "Well, to   
become a fairy tale queen, I suppose…"Her voice drifted   
off, and her eyes starred at something far away, something   
lost. She had wanted to be a queen, but after her adventure,   
she wanted more mundane things, never wanting to be   
original, or special.   
How had she become so engulfed in friends, and boys,   
and being cool? She had completely been ignoring   
everything that she had wanted before, and all the magic   
seeped out of her life. She had gone from vivid to dull on   
either side of those thirteen hours. Her currant life was like   
nothing but an oubliette in and of itself.  
This epiphany shocked Sarah so; she began to weep   
for one of the many times that week. Jareth pulled her   
close, shielding her from the cruel eyes of the dancers. She   
ignored the tears felt wetting his shirt.  
So it was true. Jareth had been right in what he had   
said. He had saved her from becoming the dull, ignorant   
mortal he had helped her to become, just as she had saved   
him from letting his pride override his good judgement, less   
than a turn ago. A favor repaid, but something left undone.  
"Jareth?" His shirt muffled Sarah's voice. "Can I stay   
here with you?"  
Jareth's eyes went wide, and he all but pushed her   
away to see if this was some kind of trick. Surely she did   
not feel the same, was not willing to spend her life with   
him who loved her so deeply. She had managed to shock   
him, something not done since she had beat his Labyrinth.   
How shocking this girl was, this woman who now cried at   
his chest.  
"Yes, Sarah. The Labyrinth is as much yours as mine,   
since you have once defeated me." He said softly into her   
dark hair. His feelings finally showing, he felt sincere relief   
at shedding once and forever the cruel mocking mask he   
had so often shown her.  
Sarah took a deep breath, tickling his chest at the   
flapping of his shirt. "What about my family." She said at   
last.  
"You have the power to see them, pr have you   
forgotten that already?" Jareth's sarcasm was warm and   
happy now, and it brought a feeling of sincere love to all   
that heard it. He chuckled softly to his new Queen.  
Sarah looked at him, laughter I her tear free eyes, at   
this abrupt change of events. She had finally fond what she   
had lost. She had the feeling that a compromise was in the   
future. Sarah marveled at the look of contentedness and   
longing in the Goblin King's eyes as he leaned forward and   
softly pressed his lips to her own.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. The End

Okay, okay, here is the prologue, nothing interesting, and   
pretty short. Maybe I'll think up more, but I'm working on   
a new Laby story, and a story for FF IX (ah, I truly live in   
two different worlds.) I hope you like it, thanks for all the   
reviews!   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Two years later, in a small cottage in the   
forest, a young couple moved in. They consorted with no   
one, but stayed to themselves. The village boys, who   
strayed through their vast property claimed that it was   
goblins that were tending the vast hedge mazes that grew   
around their home.   
No one knew that inside was a couple as   
different as the moon and sun, but as loving and carefree as   
some who never grew old, living half in a world of magic   
that only they could reach. So Sarah and Jareth spent their   
days, a happy compromise for them both, but finally   
solving their riddles, ready to live a million more, so long   
as they were together.  



End file.
